Janet Yates Vogt

Janet Yates Vogt has been a writer, composer and lyricist all of her life. She credits her career today to her family’s support, the guidance of many wonderful directors and producers, and to her many outstanding teachers – from her first grade teacher who notated Janet’s first songs and taught them to the class to sing – to her inspiring piano teachers to her professors at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where her studies were centered upon piano performance and music theory. A pivotal moment happened when her writing partner, Mark Friedman, called the CCM placement service looking for a keyboard player for his band — Janet auditioned, was hired by Mark, and a fruitful partnership began. Both inspired each other to compose, and together they are known nationally and internationally not only for their musical theatre works, but also for their numerous publications in many different musical genres, including vocal music for children and choral works for adults. Janet’s educational keyboard books and methods have been translated into French, Japanese and German. A teacher at heart, Janet still coaches piano and voice students, and is a featured speaker and presenter at many national music conventions and events. In 2005, both she and her partner, Mark, were named National Music Educators of the Year. Janet and Mark’s collaboration took a career-changing turn one night after they had just completed a large recording project for one of their publishers when Mark turned to Janet and said “I think we should write that musical now.” The time was right to finally compose a work in their favorite genre – since between them they had directed, produced, music-directed, acted and played in the pits of numerous shows. A few days later they settled upon ANNE OF GREEN GABLES and they began what continues to be a very fulfilling creative journey. “Anne” has played at many theatres across the country — most notably as the 2010-2011 holiday show at the Village Theatre in Issaquah, Washington (Robb Hunt, producer), The Barter Theatre in Abingdon VA (Richard Rose, director) and the Victoria Theatre in Dayton, Ohio (Kevin Moore, director). Their Junior Version has entertained audiences at notable children’s theatres as well. Janet and Mark’s extremely popular musical adaptation of Melinda Long’s best-selling children’s book HOW I BECAME A PIRATE, was commissioned by First Stage Theatre (Milwaukee) in 2008 and has been rollicking its way across many stages, including Cape Rep, the Des Moines Playhouse, Riverside Theatre, Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, and many more. Their powerful and moving musical, HARRIET AND SAM, captures the times and events of pre and post Civil War America as seen through the eyes of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain, and has met with critical acclaim for its timely themes of freedom and human rights. A new work in development, TENDERLY, is based upon the life and career of Rosemary Clooney featuring a two-person cast and was recently work-shopped at the Human Race Theatre (Equity) in Dayton, Ohio as part of the Race’s three-show summer musical theatre festival which also featured a new work by prize-winning playwright Brian Yorkey. The debut of TENDERLY was met with critical acclaim and great enthusiasm with audience members moved by Clooney’s inner strength and her triumph over the many challenges she faced during her life. Janet and Mark have also penned a humorous, irreverent and satirical look at married relationships with their musical cabaret, WAR GAMES: MARRIAGE ON THE FRONT LINES – lovingly dubbed by critics as the “musical in need of an intervention!” Their holiday show EBENEZER (a musical version of A Christmas Carol) has been delighting audiences for the past five years. SLEEPY HOLLOW: A MUSICAL TALE, commissioned by Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, premiered on Halloween 2010 and has just been added to Columbus Children’s Theatre upcoming season. Janet and Mark are represented by Bill Craver, Paradigm Agency, New York and are proud to be part of the TRW family. For more information, log onto www.vogtfriedmancomposers.com.